THE CRISIS, BUT NOT ONLY, IS CHANGING THE MARKET AND EVEN HOW TO NARRATE WINE. PEOPLE NO LONGER WANT TECHNOLOGICAL FACTS, BUT CULTURE. WINENEWS FACE TO FACE WITH CHARLIE ARTURAOLA, THE "300.000 KM A YEAR" SOMMELIER

You are thinking about what to write for article number 1000 of Winenews’ La Prima, when out of the blue, who drops by to say hello, the "soldier of wine", as he likes to call himself. Charlie Arturaola, sommelier and commentator of world famous wines is planning his second film in which he is the star, "The Duel of Wine," a comedy scheduled for release in theaters in early 2014, set between France, Spain and Italy, in the top wine territories.

Wearing blue shoes and his customary smile, he tells you about his travels (300.000 kilometers per year) to promote Italian wine (and not only) in the world and the success of the film “El camino del vino”, by Nicolas Carrera and Michelle Rolland, all over the planet. And between one joke and another he tells you many things: how hard it is for everyone to sell bottles of wine at pre-crisis prices and how all over the world, even in the U.S., even the big names, with the exception of the top producers, are having a hard time selling at top price ranges, and how hard it is to resist the temptation (sometimes inevitable) to lower prices.

But he also tells you about the many young people who are fascinated by wine, and how they are looking not for who tells them about the characteristics of very large and expensive, often unattainable wines, but rather who will help them understand how they can drink well for max 20 dollars. And of how this is changing also the way to narrate wine, as well as to sell it. Expert consumers are now tired of reviews and explanations about tasting techniques, and new consumers, because of their age or first approach to wine, are not at all fascinated. And he tells about the critics who are not critiquing to help the industry grow but rather tearing it apart, who instead should stop evaluating a producer only for the wines he makes or made in any given year or occasion, and begin to assess the stories he tells and the territories he lives and works in.

In a word, the "culture" of wine, which is what fascinates people all over the world, from Canada to China. How difficulties and obstacles are not lacking, but neither are the ways to overcome them. And you feel like a breath of "world" has just passed through the newsroom…